As the chart above indicates, the German IFO Business Index rose more than expected in August. The IFO Index rose 107.5 for the month compared to 106.2 in July, which beat expectations by .5. This is the fourth consecutive month of business optimism gains. Construction and Retail were the only sour patches within the survey. Construction stands at -4.2, while retail is down 2.6. But historically, construction and retail are still far from the historical averages.